FAQs
Are you interested in working with SEED/SPROUT?
Check out the Our Process pagepage explains how a typical project runs in our research group from start to finish.
If you have a project that you think fits with our research interests, please contact us.
1.1. Prospective Students, are you:
1.1.1. Interested in my research?
Thank you for your interest, I genuinely appreciate sincere messages about my work. Most of the time I receive messages about my work that seem to be cut from my Faculty of Medicine information page and pasted into an email. Usually those messages claim that everything I do is very interesting, along with a request for supervision. If you send me such a message it will probably not get the attention you hope because it will seem generic.
While I appreciate that you may be trying to build some rapport with me via my publications or interests, it would be more genuine (and interesting to me) if you shared what YOU think about things like research or important problems to answer in population health. I am fairly aware of my own work but know nothing about you, so please share what brought you to Dalhousie, our department, and my inbox.
1.1.2. Based in New Brunswick?
Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB), where I am physically located, is based on the University of New Brunswick’s Saint John campus and is the training site for approximately 120 medical students per year and graduate students affiliated with one of four graduate departments with faculty here.
My department, Community Health & Epidemiology, offers two degrees in Epidemiology and Applied Health Research: an MSc and a PhD.
All past students in our department chose to be based in Halifax. That means my supervision of students has been remote, with weekly check-ins over video conference. However, completing one of these degrees and living in Saint John is also a possibility.
Students from New Brunswick have normally taken classes in-person in Halifax for eight months, then returned to New Brunswick to complete the rest of the degree. While taking classes virtually could be an option, none of the classes are designed for that currently, and some travel to Halifax would be required. The DMNB building is equipped for graduate students, providing space, connection technology, and chances to meet in-person. So, it is not impossible, but we have never done it before.
There are other grad students from other Dalhousie departments on the DMNB campus who organize social events and informal gatherings. You will likely interact with the rest of the IMPART research trainee group as part of broader network along with colleagues in Halifax. Those students all take courses remotely from DMNB.
If you have questions about how our degrees work, please get in touch. To be clear, you do not have to be in Saint John to work with me, but some potential students may want to stay in New Brunswick, and I can help facilitate that arrangement with the department.
1.2 Undergrad looking for summer job?
In my discipline, it is not usual to accept summer students because they usually do not have adequate training to meaningfully contribute to a research project before the short tenure in our research group is complete.
That does not mean it is impossible to work with me for a summer; it just requires some vision regarding what you want out of your training. Do you want to work with large datasets? Do you want to gain some programming experience? Usually we have to start working on this a year in advance in order to arrange funding for a summer student, which is specific and not typically included in any of my grants. Alternatively, if you attain funding independently, that works too.
If you have skills you want to learn, it’s easier for me to figure out whether I can accommodate your learning.
1.3 International student?
The main challenge international students face when applying to my department is that their qualifications often do not match what our admission criteria rewards.
Our department tries to admit students who will do well in our program, meaning they meet our program requirements. However, there are a few common tropes to the emails I receive, and I would like to address some here:
1.3.1 You have international training in medicine, dentistry, or medical science:
While these fields are related to public health, and more specifically policy-related study of social epidemiology, they are not automatic qualifiers for admission.
Please see our program requirements. Even if I am interested in supervising you, you would still need to be admitted to the program, and that process is standardized (i.e., I have no influence on the process).
1.3.2 You have an interest in my work:
International students are receiving advice from someone—likely someone selling themselves as an expert—that it is a good idea to send me an email complimenting me and saying that you read one of my papers with great interest.
That is nice to hear, but I am always more interested to hear what you have to say about your interests and whether those will match with mine. At any given moment, I have a number of projects that might work for the right candidate; however, if your email does not explain how you are a good fit, then I have to default to your CV.
Please include a justification for why you think it’s a good idea for us to work together.
1.3.3 Your work experience is public health-related but not really a great match for my own research:
For example, if you are particularly interested in mother-child health outcomes in Southeast Asia, I might not be the supervisor for you; I simply know very little about that topic. Even if you have an interest in government policy’s role in those health outcomes, there is probably a more appropriate supervisor out there.
A better strategy would be contacting the graduate program director instead of me personally. They might be able to connect you with a potential supervisor that is more appropriate.
Potential PhD students are expected to provide some information on what they want to accomplish through their dissertation research, meaning the alignment between your experience, what you want to do, and my work is critical.
1.4 Recent grad looking for research experience or employment?
Occasionally I am looking to hire research staff. This is so uncommon that it is unlikely I’m hiring at any moment.
However, I do appreciate potential employees reaching out to let me know they are based in the area and looking for employment. Even if I am not personally hiring research staff, it is possible one of my colleagues is, and I will not be offended / annoyed / etc. if you simply email me your CV and explain the kind of work you want.